Study of the recent geodynamic processes in the Kopet-Dag region

The time series of the uniquely long geodetic observations of recent geodynamic processes in the Kopet-Dag region are analyzed. The regional observations of contemporary vertical movements cover a 75-year period; the zonal and local systems of leveling measurements, which provide an increased degree of spatiotemporal detail (the distance between the benchmarks is less than 1 km and the measurements are repeated with a frequency of once per month to two times per annum), have been functioning for 50 years. It is shown that during the last 40–50 years, the regional stress field in the forefront of the Main Kopet-Dag thrust and collision zone of the Turanian and Iranian plates is quasi static. The annual average trend rate of strains estimated from a set of the time series of uniquely long geodetic observations is (3–5) × 10^?8 yr^?1, which is only one to two amplitudes of tidal deformations of the solid Earth. The local deformations in the fault zone reach the rates that are by 1.5–2 orders of magnitude higher than in the block part of the region. It is found that the segments of the Earth’s surface within the axial part of the depression experience persistent uplifting, which indicates that they do not follow the scheme of inherited evolution characteristic of the fault-block structures of the region. It is demonstrated that these anomalous uplifts can be caused by the variations in the weak seismicity in the zone of the North Ashgabat Fault.     

Post-processing and forecasts updating in automated systems of flash flood forecasting

This paper completes the series of three articles devoted to automated forecasting of flash floods [3, 5] and describes an effective approach of forecast updating through post-processing operations, which can be useful only in conjunction with such fast and efficient real-time re-calibration algorithms as SLS-based methods are. In particular, a proposed methodology is aimed to reduce negative consequences of scarce or low-quality data that can corrupt optimized parameters and, therefore, lower forecasting efficiency. A new modification of SLS-based optimization that supposes simultaneous re-calibration of the model and correction of the model input by generating of ensemble noises (SLS-E) is presented.     

Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic rare-metal magmatism of Central Asia: Stages, provinces, and formation settings

Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic epochs in the formation history of the Central Asian Foldbelt are distinguished by high rare-metal productivity. A number of large REE, Ta, Nb, Zr, Be, Sn, Li, Mo, Re, and other deposits were formed at that time. As a rule, they are of the magmatic origin and related to the intrusions of highly evolved igneous rocks varying in composition from alkaline ultramafic with carbonatites to alkali and Li-F granites. In general, the occurrences of rare-metal magmatism are related to the rift zones of the Central Asian Rift System formed 310?C190 Ma ago and conjugated with a consecutive series of the Barguzin, Hangay, and Hentiy zonal igneous provinces characterized by the large batholiths in their centers and rift zones in the framework. Such a structure indicates that these provinces were formed above isometric mantle sources or plumes with participation of large-scale crustal anatexis. The evident links of rare-metal deposits to occurrences of mantle magmatism within the zonal igneous provinces show that plume sources played an important role in their formation.     

The Oldest Granites of Russia: Paleoarchean (3343 Ma) Subalkali Granites of the Okhotsk Massif

The Paleoarchean age (3.34 Ga) of subalkali granite magmatism first established for the Kukhtui uplift of the Okhotsk Massif suggests a formation time of the mature continental K-rich crust in this region as early as the Paleoarchean. According to the geological structural, mineralogical–geochemical, geochronological, and isotopic–geochemical data, the Kukhtui uplift can be considered as the most ancient Paleoarchean province in Russia: the ancient consolidation core of the sialic protocrust of the Okhotsk–Omolon Craton.     

The Azimuthal Dependence of the Microwave Emissions of a Water Surface Based on Remote Measurements at the Black Sea

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - This paper presents an analysis of the experimental measurements of the azimuthal anisotropy of the microwave emissions of a rough water surface. The...     

Online Publication of Tiltmeter Data Based on the SeedLink Protocol

The main goal of this work is to provide real-time access to the data of the NSH tunnel tiltmeters via the Internet. Software is developed that solves this problem and also provides real-time visualization and archiving of data. The solution is based the specialized real-time protocol SeedLink, which ensures lossless data delivery with minimal transmission overhead. In order to simplify access to the device via IPv4 and to protect data from unauthorized access, a secure channel based on virtual private networks has been used. The solution was tested on two tiltmeters installed in the building of the Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences (IPE RAS). Further device testing with an unstable power supply and communication conditions is planned. Therefore, the developed software was ported to energy-efficient ARM computers. Data transmission tests were carried out in the local IPE RAS network and in the wireless network of a mobile network operator. Real-time visualization of data from both tiltmeters and access to the archive are provided in addition to real-time access to data on the IPE RAS website.     

The topical problems of identifying the results of the observations in recent geodynamics

The paper addresses the problems of identifying the results of deformational observations on the Earth, which arise from the new measurement technologies and lead to the ambiguity relationships such as the “spatial size of the anomaly—density of the observation sites” and the “duration of the anomalies—degree of temporal detail of the measurements.” It is found that many “paradoxical” conclusions concerning the rates and scales of the recent geodynamical processes are removed if the parameters of the measurement system match the properties of the studied object and if the relative character of the observational means is taken into account. It is shown that the time variation in the uniaxial deviatoric stress leads to the variation in the volumetric strain and, consequently, to the variation in gravity. The ambiguity in determining the ground displacement vectors by SAR interferometry is demonstrated. It is concluded that the autonomous use of the interferometry data leads to the significant distortions of the results, and these data should be necessarily used in combination with the ground-based geodetic observations.     

The Convergence Space Experiment: Remote Determination of the Sea Surface Temperature via Radio Measurements at Frequencies of 10.65, 18.7, and 36.5 GHz

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - A regression approach is presented for the problem of restoring the sea surface temperature (SST) from radiometric measurements of a microwave...     

Preliminary Characterisation of New Reference Materials for Microanalysis: Chinese Geological Standard Glasses CGSG‐1, CGSG‐2, CGSG‐4 and CGSG‐5

Four silicate glasses were prepared by the fusion of about 1 kg powder each of a basalt, syenite, soil and andesite to provide reference materials of natural composition for microanalytical work. These glasses are referred to as ‘Chinese Geological Standard Glasses’ (CGSG) ‐1, ‐2, ‐4 and ‐5. Micro and bulk analyses indicated that the glasses are well homogenised with respect to major and trace elements. Some siderophile/chalcophile elements (e.g., Sn, Pt, Pb) may be heterogeneously distributed in CGSG‐5. This paper provides the first analytical data for the CGSG reference glasses using a variety of analytical techniques (wet chemistry, XRF, EPMA, ICP‐AES, ICP‐MS, LA‐ICP‐MS) performed in nine laboratories. Most data agree within uncertainty limits of the analytical techniques used. Discrepancies in the data for some siderophile/chalcophile elements exist, mainly because of possible heterogeneities of these elements in the glasses and/or analytical problems. From the analytical data, preliminary reference and information values for fifty‐five elements were calculated. The analytical uncertainties [2 relative standard error (RSE)] were estimated to be between about 1% and 20%.     

Detection of giant pulses from the pulsar PSR B1112+50

We detected giant pulses from the pulsar PSR B1112+50. A pulse with an intensity that is a factor of 30 or more higher than the intensity of the average pulse is encountered approximately once in 150 observed pulses. The peak flux density of the strongest pulse is about 180 Jy. This value is a factor of 80 higher than the peak flux density of the average pulse. The giant pulses are narrower than the average profile by approximately a factor of 5 and they cluster about the center of the average profile.